Art, Activism, Intervention and Disruption

Anna Arabindan-Kesson is a joint assistant professor in the Department of African American Studies and Art and Archaeology at Princeton University who is working at the intersection of art history, postcolonial, and diaspora studies conceptualizing the ways Black Diasporic art compels us to rethink constructions of national identity, racial formation, and cultural production.

Charles Alston is a visual and interdisciplinary artist whose work pulls from contemporary culture. Alston’s work in this show titled Musicians consists of two portraits from his circle of friends, images of capitalism, war as related to consumerism and other succinctly placed reminders of urban contemporary culture - altogether presenting a resistance to and freedom from stigma.

Sarah Bloom is an artist and photographer whose art focuses on aging and its relationship to grief. Her work in this show, a collaboration with poet Mir Masud-Elias, is titled 'Unveiling' and speaks to the uncovering of the white woman's eyes in this piece an opening of the heart to see from a new perspective, to step outside privilege. Bloom will speak about intersectionality and feminism at the discussion.

Lynda Grace is a fiber mixed media artist who is currently engaged in creating a series of crocheted vessels representing people in the margins. Through her work she wishes to make the invisible visible and proclaim the relevance of people often regarded unworthy or insignificant.

Nafisa Isa is the program manager at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center where she has organized the CTRL+ALT Culture Lab, an intersectional creative convening of artworks, performances and dialogues with artists and scholars who insist that knowing what the future holds is not a question of speculation, but instead agency.

Twelve Gates Arts (12G) is a non profit (501(c)(3)) organization created with the aim to showcase international multidisciplinary arts bound by the sensibilities of a diasporic identity, especially the South Asian identity, and to create and promote projects in the community that cross geographic and cultural boundaries.

12G is a proud ACAW Consortium member - a dynamic citywide platform that connects leading New York and Asia-based museums and galleries to present cutting-edge exhibitions, innovative projects, and provocative dialogues.